


And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

by NoelleAngelFyre



Series: Twelve Fics of Christmas 2020 [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas Decorations, Christmas Tree, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Parent-Child Relationship, Romance, Team Flash and the Rogues as a family, introspective piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28054296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleAngelFyre/pseuds/NoelleAngelFyre
Summary: A Christmas tree tells a story through the decorations hanging from its branches.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Lisa Snart, Barry Allen & Shawna Baez, Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Cisco Ramon & Hartley Rathaway, Hartley Rathaway/Axel Walker, Mick Rory/Caitlin Snow
Series: Twelve Fics of Christmas 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043328
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quiet reflective piece, inspired by the idea of what a Christmas tree would look like with Team Flash and the Rogues. Also, I just love Team Flash and the Rogues as a family. It warms my heart. ^.^
> 
> Comments and kudos are love, as always. Title comes from "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

The ice skates, naturally, are for Lisa: a pair of porcelain-white skates tipped in gold, entwined on two strands of silver thread. Along with paying due homage to her Olympic triumphs, the little ornament holds memories of every time she’s dragged Barry onto the ice and they glide across a shimmering surface of frost in the pale daylight hours.

A grey felt mouse, dancing to the tune played on a little pipe between its paws, was a tongue-in-cheek gift from Cisco to Hartley after he ended up the latter’s Secret Santa a few years ago. It wears a little purple beret with a single yellow feather, and its paws are white. Hartley is generally impartial to the ornament, but Axel adores it, saying the mouse is obviously wearing _his_ colors, and that’s a mark of ownership that the young Trickster simply can’t pass up.

Roy’s ornament is handmade: the tiniest canvas depiction of ‘Sunset in Venice’ ever seen. It started as a personal challenge to himself, just to see if he could do it, and Shawna absconded with it to string a single thread through the top right corner and repurpose as a tree decoration. He’s built up quite a collection of these little canvases ever since and the girls are after him to start up a side business.

While somewhat predictable in nature, the colorful jesters are deeply treasured by their respective owners. James’ is an elaborate explosion of color in the clothing design, juggling an equally vivid handful of colored stars; Axel’s bears a striking resemblance to his favored costume, even down to the mask, posed in a little jig that bears equal similarity to Axel himself. Every year, without fail, Hartley makes a point to hang his little mouse right next to Axel’s jester on the tree.

It took Barry a ridiculous amount of time to find the perfect ornament for Shawna, but then it appeared on a random online search: a white nurse’s cap with a vivid red cross. He presented it to her the day after she completed her online nursing degree and received one of her most radiant smiles to date.

Mark and Kyle aren’t much for the whole decorating bit: Kyle is deliberately obstinate when it comes to offering any kind of suggestions as to a fitting ornament for himself, and Mark’s holiday cheer comes in the form of creating a blizzard every year on Christmas Eve. Absent any physical representation on the pine needles, these two are simply in charge of getting the tree and putting it up without trying to kill each other.

Mick started out opposed to having an ornament for himself, then Caitlin had Cisco adhere a little flame pendant to the heart of her own snowflake flurry – a trio of differently-sized flakes tinged in silver glitter – and the symbolism earned an eager stamp of approval.

Barry’s ornament is as much homemade as it is a blatant statement of ownership: a single gold lightning bolt, tinged in red, encased with a globe ornament frosted with silver and blue. Len rolls his eyes every time Barry pulls it out of the box and dryly remarks on his ‘doe-eyed sentimentalism,’ which is cute talk for the man who personally designed the trinket and presented it to Barry on a job in the same fashion as one might an engagement ring.

The angel on the top is a staple of Barry’s childhood: a radiant figure of lace, velvet, and satin, its story is well-known among the group as being given to Nora Allen by her husband to commemorate their first Christmas together and may be the only tree adornment handled with utmost care and delicacy. The feathered wings are slightly worn, the dress is showing its age, and some of the paint is slightly chipped around the cheeks and fingertips. But every year, she crowns the tree with the same tender smile and arms open to embrace the hopes, dreams, and futures of all those around her.


End file.
